If you want real, lasting change in your team, understand what truly motivates each person. Everybody shows up to work for different reasons, so connect the change you’re asking for with what matters to them personally. When people see how change benefits them – not just the organisation – they’re far more likely to choose it, support it, and sustain it.
https://swiy.co/go-this-time-its-personal
I was speaking at a leadership conference recently, and somebody asked me for some advice afterwards. He said:
“I’m a leader of a team and we’re going through a major change right now. If we don’t change, we’re going to lose our jobs – all of us! But some people in the team just don’t get it. How do I convince them it’s literally their job at stake?”
It reminded me of something that happened to me in my first job, working for a small tech team (Nowadays, it would be called a startup). Because it was small, people tended to get promoted quickly, and I became a manager way before I was ready for it. I’ll admit I wasn’t a very good manager to begin with, but I like to think I learned quickly.
At the time, our company was struggling. We had lost a couple of big contracts, and were finding it difficult to get more work because our biggest project (my project) was running late.
In my first management role, at one of our weekly management meetings, one of the senior leaders told us we just needed to get people to work harder. Mind you, we couldn’t afford to pay them more, but we just expected them to work longer hours to get the project done.
I asked him, “What do I tell my people? How do I motivate them?”
He said, “Just tell them that if they don’t change, they’ll lose their jobs!”
Even as a naive, wet-behind-the-years, 23-year-old, first-time manager, I knew this wasn’t going to motivate my team! Unfortunately, I had to pass on that message, but it reminded me this has been a constant problem. And many leaders still try to motivate their teams to change by offering only the stick, with no carrot.
What’s a better solution?
First, you can’t wave a magic wand and instantly get people to change. It doesn’t work that way, unless there’s a catastrophic event – like, say, a global pandemic.
So, you need to build a CULTURE of change.
And this starts by recognising not everybody is motivated by the same things. Everybody has their own reasons for being at work.
For some, it’s just about earning money to look after their family and lifestyle. No problem with that – they feel fulfilled by what they do outside work hours.
At the other extreme, some are passionate about their work, and put everything into it because they feel they are making a difference – the kind of difference THEY want to make – in the world.
And then there’s everything in between.
So, if you’re involved in any sort of change initiative and you want your people to change, my first question for you is this:
Do you know WHY your people are there?
If you don’t, find out! Because you can’t force them to change – or, rather, you can’t force them to change and keep the change.
Motivation comes from them, not from you.
This is part of building a culture of change agents, and it’s what makes change happen, makes it positive, and makes it stick.
For more, join my free, public online presentation this week, “Keep The Change”. I’ll share how to build this culture of change, including some simple, practical things you can do right now.
Register for the virtual masterclass: